Tatjana and Kaylene go again in 200m Olympic final as Pieter joins in the ‘fun’

American Kate Douglass, left, and Tatjana Smith react after competing in the women's 200m breaststroke semifinals at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
American Kate Douglass, left, and Tatjana Smith react after competing in the women's 200m breaststroke semifinals at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
Image: SARAH STIER/ GETTY IMAGES

Defending champion Tatjana Smith is relishing the idea of a tough race in the 200m breaststroke final at the Paris Olympics on Thursday after finishing second to American Kate Douglass in their semifinal on Wednesday.

Smith’s Tuks teammate Kaylene Corbett ended second in the other semifinal and the two South Africans are seeded second and fourth overall.

Their training partner Pieter Coetzé was third-quickest in the men’s 200m backstroke.

Both Smith and Corbett were relaxed chatting with journalists in the mixed zone afterwards, but coach Rocco Meiring seemed a lot more anxious when he came looking for Smith, grumbling that she was running late for her warm-downs.

Smith touched second in 2 min 19.94 sec, two-tenths of a second behind Douglass.

“I’m so happy with that time,” said 27-year-old Smith, who has promised that these are her last Games, though she plans to continue competing internationally for a while.

“So it doesn’t really matter where I come. It was such a good race. I think a part of sports is pushing each other,” added Smith, who beat Douglass at the world championships last year.

“It really just brings out the best version of me.”

Smith became the first South African to win gold medals at two different Games when she took the 100m breaststroke on Monday night, but on Thursday she bids to become the first to take gold in the same event at two Olympics.

Corbett, who clocked 2:22.87, will be swimming in an international final alongside Smith for a fifth time, having done it at the last Olympics in Tokyo, the 2019 world championships and the past two Commonwealth Games.

“I’m reminiscing about Tokyo. Last time I was crying, like standing here and I was ranked fourth going into the final I was in tears. So this time it’s a little bit different — I’m not crying so that's good.

“I think I’m just really happy to be here. I think it’s like a motto to come to the Olympics and just be so grateful for the blessings ...

“I think something that’s really huge and a recurring theme at the moment is how much the Olympics and how much swimming and sports has given me.

“I’m really grateful for the friendship that I have with Tats and to be able to share this moment with her is I think probably the biggest thing that comes from this.”

Corbett, who clocked her fastest time since Tokyo, said she and Smith had spoken straight after their semifinal races. “We were standing there and we were laughing and joking.

“That’s what sports is about, it’s not about a medal. It’s literally just about the friendships and what you get from sports. It’s given me so much I can literally quit tomorrow and I’ll be over the moon with this career,” she said, quickly adding she planned to keep going for a while.

Coetzé said he was hurting after finishing his semifinal in 1:56.05, a little slower than his 1:55.85 personal best.

“It was fun, I really enjoyed it. I definitely hurt a little bit, but very happy to be in the final. Some races are going to hurt more than others and I definitely felt a little bit tonight.

“But I think with the rest that I’ll get now before the final, the body will recover, and I’ll be ready tomorrow.”

Coetzé wasn’t prepared to guess the time he would need to make the podium.

“So far the unexpected has been happening and everyone's always talking about times. But I can promise you, none of these swimmers care about their times,” said Coetzé, who broke his African record finishing fifth in the 100m backstroke final on Monday.

“Maybe in the back of their mind, they do, but they’d rather swim a slower time and win a medal than swim their [personal best] — speaking for myself, swim their PB and get fifth place.”


subscribe

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.